Africa Is a Country

Azonto Germany

Azonto Germany

By
Boima Tucker

http://youtu.be/DQLtE_YCZuI

So apparently there’s more to the Ghana-Germany connection than the Boateng boys. I think the above Azonto rave in Hamburg this past January is proof of that. It’s perhaps an illustration of some of the points we were trying to make about diverse histories and orientations of African pop, the diaspora, and its international dissemination. If anything it is an illustration of the speed with which culture travels now.

When I went to the Ghana independence day bash in Manhattan a year ago there was none of this Azonto craze. This year, with V.I.P. in the building, I’m sure it’ll be Azonto all over the place!

But back to Europe. It’s not only contained to Hamburg. There was a Christmas Azonto battle in Denmark, and if you look hard it’s not only Ghanaians in the building either! I continue to be surprised, but excited by such cultural manifestations, and how we’re able to see how global culture is morphing in front of our eyes.

http://youtu.be/cXKHcXfAgCY

Till, a Hamburg based DJ friend who represents the So Shifty crew sent me these videos, and has done an Azonto mix. I probably would have been surprised that he was so up to the time with a bunch of tracks I knew from clubbing in Accra, Monrovia, and Freetown this summer, but in the context of all this it definitely makes sense.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/37472170″ params=”auto_play=false&show_artwork=true&color=000000″ width=”100%” iframe=”true” /]
Tracklist here.

Further Reading

No one should be surprised we exist

The documentary film, ‘Rolé—Histórias dos Rolezinhos’ by Afro-Brazilian filmmaker Vladimir Seixas uses sharp commentary to expose social, political, and cultural inequalities within Brazilian society.

Kenya’s stalemate

A fundamental contest between two orders is taking place in Kenya. Will its progressives seize the moment to catalyze a vision for social, economic, and political change?

More than a building

The film ‘No Place But Here’ uses VR or 360 media to immerse a viewer inside a housing occupation in Cape Town. In the process, it wants to challenge gentrification and the capitalist logic of home ownership.